Your audience has the shortcut for you.

Last week I shared the first of two key insights from my conversation with reader Eva, an educator for the deaf, certified family therapist, and seasoned speaker. Miss the post on the freeing power of structure? Catch it here.

Today, I’m back with rest of my conversation, distilled into Insight #2: Your audience has the shortcut for you.

It’s about an innovative way of using the questions on a well-crafted speaker evaluation survey (the feedback forms attendees fill out for conference or workshop organizers) to create a remarkable learning experience and ahas for your audience, before you outline or write a single word of your talk.

Eva said she made a point to get feedback on her presentations from her audience. I asked her specifically what she liked to include on her speaker evaluation forms. Right away, she responded:

Did you learn something? What was it?
followed by:
What did you like about the speaker?
Were the accompanying materials useful?
What would you like to see changed?
What is it that you want to know more about?

These are powerful questions. And ones that you can ask yourself before you create your talk. Doing so eliminates a lot of second guessing (and time!—hence the shortcut), by creating a clear idea of what success would look like for you.

Think of this as a kind of “ideal day” exercise (painting a picture of your ideal day), but instead paint a picture of your ideal talk outcome for your audience.

So put yourself in the shoes of your audience who has just heard your final line and seen you leave the stage. 

Ask yourself:
What do you want your audience to say that they've learned?
If they are then asked, “How does this new learning change things for you?,” how do you want them to respond?
What do you want them to say they liked best about you as a speaker or workshop leader?
What do you want them to be curious about, and wanting more of, when you leave the stage?

Capture your imagined "ideal outcome" responses in an evernote. This will channel your energy and keep you honest and on track during the creative process of crafting your talk. 

I’d love to know what comes up for you. Share with me one of your responses here.

By identifying an ideal outcome, these questions (if you reckon with them) naturally lead you to think about HOW you can best create this outcome for your audience.

This ideal outcome also makes decision making easier when you are in the process of architecting your talk. 

Does a particular story, point, message, or contrast get me closer to delivering this outcome for my audience? A yes? Keep it in. A no? Then let it go, or consider how to do it better.

I’m grateful to Eva’s example.

Inspired in part by my conversation with her, I’m on a listening campaign with my community, arranging brief 20 minute 1:1 Skype calls to learn more about your individual experience with public speaking and the single biggest challenge you have (or had). If you’re open to talking, let me know. It’s completely free, and no-strings attached.